Matheson recently advised on the issuance of the Trade MAPS Series 2013-1 Notes, a first of its kind multi-bank, multi-jurisdiction trade finance asset securitisation relating to import and export activities, consisting of 7,336 loans from 175 obligors. The transaction was developed jointly by Citi and Santander and structured by Morgan Stanley. The transaction used several Irish special purpose vehicles to enable both Citi and Santander branches domiciled in Asia, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and North America to sell trade finance assets, and acquire funding from the capital markets. John Ahearn, Global Head of Trade at Citi, commented, "The program is designed to benefit the broader industry by establishing an origination and funding platform for trade banks with global market positions, creating a highly diversified and granular pool of assets ultimately translating into access to a new and wider investor base." Fabio José Fagundes, who led the Trade MAPS initiative for Santander's Global Trade Finance commented, "This is a transformational step for the future of trade finance. Through well-coordinated teamwork between co-arrangers, law firms and several control functions within our organizations we have invested considerably in a platform that will allow a sustainable future for the financing of global trade flows." Christian Donagh (Partner, Structured Finance) led the Matheson team advising on the transaction, which included Gerry Thornton (Partner, Tax), Kevin Smith (Associate, Tax) and Richard Kelly (Associate, Structured Finance). Christian commented, "This innovative deal demonstrates that Ireland is a leading jurisdiction through which securitisation transactions can be structured. The transaction is a timely reminder of how securitisations can provide funding for banks to lend to SMEs and it is particularly pleasing that Ireland plays such a central role in this global SME funding platform." Structure of the transaction In the first ever trade finance securitisation involving more than one bank in more than one country, an Irish vehicle called Trade MAPS 1 Limited issued USD 1 billion of three-year rated notes, backed by trade finance assets originated by the two banks. Historically, trade finance asset securitisations have been backed by a synthetic transfer of risk using derivatives, rather than through acquisition of cash assets, in order to avoid potential difficulties caused by the laws of the...